....ME:) Here is the adventure I planned....I just couldn't go any longer without seeing our new nephew, Jackson, in Iowa. And the girls had not met their cousin yet, who is now 4 months old. Something had to be done. The only option before xmas was Labor Day weekend. Amazing how work and pre-school interfere with our care free fun:) Oh well.
But of course, Saturday was the first day of the dance season, a must be there situation for Mama. So the girls and I headed out at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and drove to Clear Lake, Iowa. We arrived there at midnight and finally found the last hotel room intown available at our third stop. It was a hot tub suite...just our luck:) The three of us piled into the giant king sized bed and drifted off to sleep. We awoke before 7 a.m., the girls hopped into the hot tub for a quick tubby while watching cartoons, than we were back in the car for the remaining 3 hour drive to Iowa City!
We arrived in Iowa City at 11 a.m. on Sunday to love up our Jackson who had changed so much since I'd seen him in June I could hardly believe it! We enjoyed lunch, an outdoor playground and spray park, the Iowa Children's museum, and a carousel ride. Than Auntie Katie and Uncle Tucker were off for a date while I proudly managed to have 3 children sleeping by 8:20 p.m.
A bit of sleep for all of us and the girls and I were back in the car at 8:00 a.m. to head to Des Moines, IA to visit long time friends Andy and Katie Menschner (and baby Menschner...due March 2009). Off to the Blank Park Zoo we all went and enjoyed feeding giraffes, riding camels and more!
A little bit more sleep and it was back in the car and on the road by 8 a.m. today! After a long lunch stop and a couple of mini bathroom breaks we arrived home at 5:30...all in fairly good shape, Mom still completely sane, and sisters still actually loving each other! How this all worked out and didn't turn disastrous, I don't know...but I'm thankful!!!:) Other things I'm thankful for...
*Sweet Jackson (who is looking more and more like his Momma!!!) and the chance to have him sleep on my shoulder and the way he would seem to stop crying whenever I sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
*Cousin time...Veronica playing with Jackson, tickling him, talking/yelling at him, making silly sounds, even making him smile a couple of times...all the while being restrained by Mom to make sure she didn't get too rough with her little cous':)
*Sweet sister moments...Sunday morning while waking up in the hotel bed, Veronica crawled over to Isabella and Isabella pulled her down and wrapped her arms around her saying, "Come here, 'ronica, come lay by your big sister". Than she stroked Veronica's back and said, "This is what I'll have to do to Baby Jackson, Mom"!
*"My rocks...my rocks"...Veronica's joy over a little bag of rocks she picked out at the zoo. She had to take it with her for her nap. A short time later as Isabella, Andy, and I were coloring we heard the rocks being thrown out of her pack n play...some thrown so hard they rolled underneath the door and into the hallway:)
*"I ride camel"...Veronica's total enjoyment of riding a camel at the zoo. Veronica is normally weary of new experiences and not so sure of these kinds of adventures and clings to Momma. She clung to Momma until we climbed on the camel, but than sat on her own and giggled and would say "oof" on the bumpier parts of the ride...she loved it!!! Without any prompting she told Daddy, "I ride camel, I ride camel" when on the phone with him.
*"Beautiful girls"...At the mall in Iowa City, Isabella saw an Indian woman dressed in a sari and said, "That girl is so pretty"...I loved that she saw someone who looked sooooo different from everyone else and thought she was beautiful...Isabella is very special in that respect and I love that SO MUCH about her!!!!
*We're thankful for Daddy...who often shakes his head as I dash off on these adventures, but supports us and kindly shares his Hanson girls with the rest of the world:) Thanks also to Daddy for getting the trim in the downstairs bathroom done while we were gone...and for having a hard time sleeping without Momma there beside him...that's nice to hear after all this time together...we started dating 11 years ago this month...can you believe it?????
*Family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends that are pieces of the quilt of our life's history...our life is very blessed with many wonderful people!
It was a great trip...last week I kept thinking about how crazy I was and worried that I had gotten in over my head. But throughout the whole weekend, I just kept thinking..."I love this, I love this, I love this". There is nothing better than sharing these moments with my girls and I love the idea of being an adventurous (or crazy, depending on how you look at it:) mom. I loved sleeping in a big king sized bed with both my girlies, I loved cleaning up the explosions in the car after each leg of the drive, I loved listening to the girls negotiate what movie they would watch next on the car ride, I loved watching the two of them having a blast playing with just each other at the McDonalds playland in Rogers today at lunch, and yes I even loved attempting to calm down (often unsuccessfully:)two
very wound up, yet exhausted girls when they would get a bit crazy and wild!:)
And alas, now it is time to return to work (my paying and non-paying gigs:) and to continue my quest to figure out how I can work as few hours as possible while still making my income so that I can free up more time for adventures...hee hee hee:)
Kisses to Jackson...may you always know how dearly we love you sweet boy!
Hugs to Auntie Katie, Uncle Tucker, and Andy and Katie...thank you for opening your homes to us!
Kisses and hugs to Isabella and Veronica for all the joy and love and delight you bring to me every day and for helping me discover who I was meant to be!
And love to my Bryan, my 'chum', for always being my everything and for working so darn hard for your family...you are and always will be my hero!!!
But of course, Saturday was the first day of the dance season, a must be there situation for Mama. So the girls and I headed out at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and drove to Clear Lake, Iowa. We arrived there at midnight and finally found the last hotel room intown available at our third stop. It was a hot tub suite...just our luck:) The three of us piled into the giant king sized bed and drifted off to sleep. We awoke before 7 a.m., the girls hopped into the hot tub for a quick tubby while watching cartoons, than we were back in the car for the remaining 3 hour drive to Iowa City!
We arrived in Iowa City at 11 a.m. on Sunday to love up our Jackson who had changed so much since I'd seen him in June I could hardly believe it! We enjoyed lunch, an outdoor playground and spray park, the Iowa Children's museum, and a carousel ride. Than Auntie Katie and Uncle Tucker were off for a date while I proudly managed to have 3 children sleeping by 8:20 p.m.
A bit of sleep for all of us and the girls and I were back in the car at 8:00 a.m. to head to Des Moines, IA to visit long time friends Andy and Katie Menschner (and baby Menschner...due March 2009). Off to the Blank Park Zoo we all went and enjoyed feeding giraffes, riding camels and more!
A little bit more sleep and it was back in the car and on the road by 8 a.m. today! After a long lunch stop and a couple of mini bathroom breaks we arrived home at 5:30...all in fairly good shape, Mom still completely sane, and sisters still actually loving each other! How this all worked out and didn't turn disastrous, I don't know...but I'm thankful!!!:) Other things I'm thankful for...
*Sweet Jackson (who is looking more and more like his Momma!!!) and the chance to have him sleep on my shoulder and the way he would seem to stop crying whenever I sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
*Cousin time...Veronica playing with Jackson, tickling him, talking/yelling at him, making silly sounds, even making him smile a couple of times...all the while being restrained by Mom to make sure she didn't get too rough with her little cous':)
*Sweet sister moments...Sunday morning while waking up in the hotel bed, Veronica crawled over to Isabella and Isabella pulled her down and wrapped her arms around her saying, "Come here, 'ronica, come lay by your big sister". Than she stroked Veronica's back and said, "This is what I'll have to do to Baby Jackson, Mom"!
*"My rocks...my rocks"...Veronica's joy over a little bag of rocks she picked out at the zoo. She had to take it with her for her nap. A short time later as Isabella, Andy, and I were coloring we heard the rocks being thrown out of her pack n play...some thrown so hard they rolled underneath the door and into the hallway:)
*"I ride camel"...Veronica's total enjoyment of riding a camel at the zoo. Veronica is normally weary of new experiences and not so sure of these kinds of adventures and clings to Momma. She clung to Momma until we climbed on the camel, but than sat on her own and giggled and would say "oof" on the bumpier parts of the ride...she loved it!!! Without any prompting she told Daddy, "I ride camel, I ride camel" when on the phone with him.
*"Beautiful girls"...At the mall in Iowa City, Isabella saw an Indian woman dressed in a sari and said, "That girl is so pretty"...I loved that she saw someone who looked sooooo different from everyone else and thought she was beautiful...Isabella is very special in that respect and I love that SO MUCH about her!!!!
*We're thankful for Daddy...who often shakes his head as I dash off on these adventures, but supports us and kindly shares his Hanson girls with the rest of the world:) Thanks also to Daddy for getting the trim in the downstairs bathroom done while we were gone...and for having a hard time sleeping without Momma there beside him...that's nice to hear after all this time together...we started dating 11 years ago this month...can you believe it?????
*Family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends that are pieces of the quilt of our life's history...our life is very blessed with many wonderful people!
It was a great trip...last week I kept thinking about how crazy I was and worried that I had gotten in over my head. But throughout the whole weekend, I just kept thinking..."I love this, I love this, I love this". There is nothing better than sharing these moments with my girls and I love the idea of being an adventurous (or crazy, depending on how you look at it:) mom. I loved sleeping in a big king sized bed with both my girlies, I loved cleaning up the explosions in the car after each leg of the drive, I loved listening to the girls negotiate what movie they would watch next on the car ride, I loved watching the two of them having a blast playing with just each other at the McDonalds playland in Rogers today at lunch, and yes I even loved attempting to calm down (often unsuccessfully:)two
very wound up, yet exhausted girls when they would get a bit crazy and wild!:)
And alas, now it is time to return to work (my paying and non-paying gigs:) and to continue my quest to figure out how I can work as few hours as possible while still making my income so that I can free up more time for adventures...hee hee hee:)
Kisses to Jackson...may you always know how dearly we love you sweet boy!
Hugs to Auntie Katie, Uncle Tucker, and Andy and Katie...thank you for opening your homes to us!
Kisses and hugs to Isabella and Veronica for all the joy and love and delight you bring to me every day and for helping me discover who I was meant to be!
And love to my Bryan, my 'chum', for always being my everything and for working so darn hard for your family...you are and always will be my hero!!!
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